Rosales belts grand slam as part of 2-homer game

Thirty-five-year-old infielder Adam Rosales has played in 638 major-league games and 695 in the minors, but still attacks baseball with such fervor that it’s as if somebody told him these would be the final nine innings of his life.

Rosales sprinted around the bases on his grand slam in the fourth inning like it was inside the park and did the same thing after hitting a solo home run in the fifth in leading the Clippers to a 10-6 victory over Indianapolis before 9,305 on Friday night at Huntington Park.

The Clippers (4039), who got five hits from Greg Allen and four from Francisco Mejia, rose above the .500 mark for the first time since June 17 in winning the first two games of the fourgame series.

“He seems to do it faster every time,” manager Chris Tremie said of Rosales’ home run sprint. “He has always been that player. He plays the game the right way and has hustled for as long as I can remember.”

Rosales has 10 home runs this season and 132 during his career, and it’s standard for him to round the bases as quickly as possible.

“Ever since I’ve hit my first home run I told myself that I’m going to run like it was a triple,” he said. “It’s a tribute to my 14-year-old self, my 13-year-old self, to play that way.”

Cleveland signed Rosales on March 27 when spring training was winding down after he was released by Philadelphia. Last season, he played in 71 games for Oakland and in 34 for Arizona and totaled seven homers and 36 RBI.

Rosales isn’t griping about being in his eighth organization since being drafted by Cincinnati in the 12th round in 2005.

“That’s what I’ve signed up for, right?” he said. “I have no complaints. I’m fortunate to still be playing at 35 years old to come out of Western Michigan University. My daughter is older and kind of starting to get it — that her dad plays baseball — and that really does something for me.”

Mejia and Brandon Barnes singled to center and Mike Papi reached on an error by the catcher to set up Rosales’ grand slam. He is batting .333 this month and .262 for the season with 34 RBI.

Left-hander Ryan Merritt, making his fourth injury rehabilitation start since coming off his second stay on the disabled list, gave up eight hits and three runs, didn’t walk a batter and struck out three in six innings.

IL UPDATE